Beautiful Ruins
"A high-wire feat of bravura storytelling ... You're going to love this book … The surprising and witty novel of social criticism that flows away from its lush, romantic opening offers so much more than just entertainment ... stirs the heart and amuses as it also rescues us from the all too human pain that is the motor of this complex and ever-evolving novel … Walter is a talented and original writer." Helen Schulman, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
- #1 Bestseller
- New York Times Notable Book of the Year
- Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
- NPR Fresh Air Novel of the Year
- Esquire Book of the Year
- In UK, Guardian, Times and Sunday Times Best Books of the Year
- Best Book of the Year: Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Seattle Times, The Oregonian, St. Louis Today, Kansas City Star, Goodreads, Hudsons, Barnes and Noble, Amazon
"Walter shifts between his characters expertly, allowing the adventure to unfold from multiple perspectives. He also makes good use of unorthodox storytelling forms." - Steve Almond, BOSTON GLOBE
"Walter is a prodigiously gifted writer. His sentences nearly sing … what unfolds is ambitious, and a lesser writer could never have engineered such masterful jumps through time." -- Christopher Bollen, LA REVIEW OF BOOKS
Best Fiction Finalist
Best Solo Narration Winner (w/Edoardo Ballerini)
Audie Award, 2013